I am new to the Springfield area and I am used to hunting swamp/marsh areas in the southeast. Haven't really seen any type of public land like that up here. From what ive been told when the weather is decently cold there are ducks to be killed at stockton lake? Is there any reason someone couldn't get back in the far arms of the lake and just rig up a blind out of brush? Or do most people hunt over the more open water? Also, are there any other places not too awfully far from Springfield where any of y'all have any luck? Thank you for any info you can give to a lost duck hunter.

Hey barin, my uncle and cousin used to live out there in the Buffalo area. They did do a lot of hunting on the lakes for divers. However they found decent success hunting small water such as shallow rivers and ponds for puddlers. Some of the best hunts they had were on little farm ponds. They also killed a lot of mallards using goose decoys in alfalfa fields they had seen geese using. Hope this helps.

Instead of asking for people to give up their spots on a public site, try picking up a phone and calling around to the MDC offices and speak with them about it, or private message people. Why would I post my hunting spot up for thousands of others to see. There is a right way and a wrong way to ask for information, and this is the wrong way.

Sorry guys I just had to do it. Haven't heard anything from old CP lately.

How about using the search engine type in "springfield area duck hunting" I BET 1000 post just like this one about Stockton lake pop up And they all get the same answer.... Go figure it out yourself especially from a 1st poster

"Some people pride themselves on how far they can shoot ducks others pride themselves on how close they can get them. I'm an other!!! "John Stephens RNT

mjcraig15 wrote:Instead of asking for people to give up their spots on a public site, try picking up a phone and calling around to the MDC offices and speak with them about it, or private message people. Why would I post my hunting spot up for thousands of others to see. There is a right way and a wrong way to ask for information, and this is the wrong way.

Sorry guys I just had to do it. Haven't heard anything from old CP lately.

barin300 wrote:I am new to the Springfield area and I am used to hunting swamp/marsh areas in the southeast. Haven't really seen any type of public land like that up here. From what ive been told when the weather is decently cold there are ducks to be killed at stockton lake? Is there any reason someone couldn't get back in the far arms of the lake and just rig up a blind out of brush? Or do most people hunt over the more open water? Also, are there any other places not too awfully far from Springfield where any of y'all have any luck? Thank you for any info you can give to a lost duck hunter.

Stockton has birds, but its big and you will have to scout.

Legally you can hunt the back waters.

Hunting in the Springfield area is very hard. Ducks aren't typically attracted to limestone and that is the crop we are most known for. Do people kill ducks in this area? Yes. My recommendation is do what the rest of us do...SCOUT.

Ha. This will be my second year duck hunting so I somewhat feel for this guy. However I was very new to Missouri and like I said duck hunting. www.mdc.mo.gov will give you info and just do some searches online and you'll get some info. Then go out and scout. I learned a ton about duck hunting last year and the area. But one of the biggest things I learned is that asking questions like that on this site don't get you to far.

Just went up to Stockton this weekend to visit family and they took me all around the lake (in the car), lake looks nice but seems like it might serve fishermen better than waterfowl hunters? It was interesting to hear about the history of the lake. If I was up there I would probably be spending my time deer and turkey hunting from what they told me.